Of all the 9 mm defensive loads I have tested, this might be the most wicked. For starters, a 124-grain bullet at over 1,300 fps is in the .357 Mag. range of performance. Granted, this is from a 5-inch barrel, but even if the load loses 100 fps when fired from a shorter barrel, it will still produce high velocities for a 9 mm. The destruction inside the gelatin block was nasty; as you would expect from a bullet going this fast and expanding 1.5 times its original diameter. Part of the credit has to go to the Gold Dot bullet Buffalo Bore uses for this load. Gold Dot bullets are some of the most consistent expanding bullets used in defensive handguns.
Load | Handgun | MV (fps) | PEN (inches) | EXP (inches) | RW (grains) |
9 mm +P+ Buffalo Bore 124-grain JHP | Wilson Combat(5-inch barrel) | 1,361 | 16.5 | .55 | 124 |